Whale Wipe-Out Record Numbers Starving to Death
More than 160 dead gray whales have washed up on the Pacific Coast this year, includ- ing onto beaches in Canada, Mexico and Alaska, and scientists estimate that they represent
just 10 percent of the total number of the dead, with the rest sinking into the sea. In Washington, officials have run out of public beaches for the huge carcasses to rot, and have asked for owners of private beaches to volunteer space.
This could end up being the deadliest year for gray whales since 2000, when 131 were found on U.S. shores. Many of this year’s victims have been malnourished, ac- cording to David Weller, a research wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center, in La Jolla, California. That could be because of unusually warm temperatures in the northern Bering Sea last year, says Sue Moore, a biological oceanographer at the University of Washington, in Seattle. This results in less of the type of algae that amphipods (shrimplike crustaceans) eat, which in turn lowers the food supply for the whales.
Cola Quandary
Companies Urge Vietnam Recycling Plans Vietnam is among the biggest contributors to plastic waste in the ocean, and Suntory Holdings, a giant Japanese beverage com- pany, has joined its rivals Coca- Cola and Nestlé to encourage new recycling strategies to fend off such actions as the European Union’s move toward outlawing single-use plastic items. A report by Greenpeace last year found Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé
to be the world’s biggest producers of plastic trash, although all three companies have made recycling pledges. Suntory, a maker of whisky and soft drinks, says it plans to switch out pure, petroleum-based plastic bottles in all markets by 2030, using only recycled or plant-based materials, at a cost of approximately $467 million, but also says it sees no viable alternative yet to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
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Growing Pains
Climate Changes Upend Farming Cultivation throughout the U.S. is becoming more dif- ficult because of unpre- dictable weather patterns, leading to higher prices and lowered productiv- ity. Farmers are finding that a shift of two or three weeks in a growing season can upset supply chains, labor schedules and other agricultural variables, like the routes that honeybees travel to pollinate fields. Also, climate change is
driving a rise in pest infestations that will keep growers scrambling to keep up with rapidly changing conditions. “Decades-long patterns of frost, heat and rain, never entirely predictable, but once reliable enough, have bro- ken down. In regions where the term climate change still meets with skepticism, some simply call the weather ex- treme or erratic. But most agree that something unusual is happening,” reports The New York Times.
Cetacean Liberation
Canada Bans Captive Sea Mammals Canada’s Parliament recently passed legislation banning the practice of breeding and keeping whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity. Violations are punishable by fines of up to $150,000. While celebrat- ed by animal rights activists, the bill doesn’t free marine mammals currently in captivity, those being rescued and rehabilitated, or those being kept for the purposes of licensed scientific research. The Canadian Broad- casting Corporation reported that the measure would especially impact Marineland, the Niagara Falls, Ontario, amusement park and zoo that has 55 beluga whales, five bottlenose dolphins and one orca, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Marineland said it will comply with the legislation.
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